The actress and writer discussing her uproarious series about that grotty allure of younger generation lifestyle
The star appears on the online meeting and right away launches into an apology. “Apologies for the delay!” she says, sounding truly regretful. Despite being only a couple of minutes late, she needs to justify. “I have such a problem, because I’m a yapper on the phone. “Previous discussions went over, and I realized I talk too much!” Luckily, for a writer, this is just what you want to experience. Moreover, it’s fairly predictable. Viewers who know the boldly openly gay and brash film Bottoms—which Sennott co-wrote with Emma Seligman and starred in with collaborator the talented actress—will understand that Sennott has much to say, whether about gender, relationships, or the pros of starting a youth brawl society. Plus, after watching her recent multi-episode program titled I Love LA, it becomes obvious that the star holds even more insights regarding the challenges of Gen Z life (At 30, she represents an honorary member to younger audiences, on the cusp with a knack for straddling millennials and Gen Z).
Influences and Storytelling Approach
Parallels to the iconic series Girls can’t be avoided and the actress readily acknowledges an admirer, naming the show together with the classic series, Insecure and Atlanta as inspirations for I Love LA, which tracks the struggles of a social media star Tallulah and ally who is also new talent manager Sennott’s character. Perhaps, the largest presence on the moodboard was reserved for the popular sitcom, the HBO sitcom about a rising A-list actor succeeding in a gritty LA scene (memorable line: “happiness eludes everyone but failures in this city”). She began viewing it amid COVID-19, became “hooked”, and resolved to add a fresh perspective on it “with female and queer audiences in mind”.
“My aim was to focus on digital fame over traditional entertainment, as my own beginnings were on the web,” she explains. The concept for the series originated—partly—from firsthand, originally rocky, relocation to LA and from the saturn return, a frequently discussed phenomenon for astrology heads. This represented a time that saw her learn some big truths, in her career and individually. “In my early 20s I was so messy, crying in public everywhere, all the time,” she says. “In my mid-20s, I moved to LA and got settled. And then I felt like everything started to just fall apart. It was almost like these biblical tests …”
Starting Out
Brought up in New England, Sennott began writing and performing stand-up while studying acting at a prestigious arts school. “I went through all the proper channels to try to perform, and they weren’t gelling,” she explains. “Auditions for university comedy troupes led to universal rejection. “None of the university plays cast me either.” “It left me questioning my purpose and place.”
She took matters into her own hands, appearing at open mics with her friend and sharing hilarious (and very) weird comedy videos digitally. One, Baby Cult, followed a group of women intensely drawn to motherhood; another imagined working at the preppy clothing store Hollister as similar to being stuck in a scary movie. In a neat twist of fate, she met Seligman through campus film circles and eventually appearing in her first film, Shiva Baby, a stressful dramedy set at a funeral gathering with shades of the intense thriller. The big theme of her career, she notes, has been contemporaries supporting her, rather than established gatekeepers. Does that mean bypassing the usual powers? “Not the gatekeepers”, she repeats, continuing with a laugh: “They prefer we don’t succeed.”
Career Breakthrough
Anyone who had doubts about her then will likely be regretting it today. Through she calls a “astonishingly complete” development, she has created her dream vehicle. Previously she shared a clip titled about Los Angeles online, in which she mocked Hollywood trailers (“Substance abuse is rampant here”). Years later, she’s a lead creator (with her partner) of a show about LA residents juggling benefits of online celebrity (such as socializing at a celebrity’s house) with downsides (your associate being suspected of being a intoxicated stealer, and possibly becoming a “brand unsafe” outcast). Some could simple to create a program about online fame that was overly aspirational—or, more problematic, one that mocked at its subjects. This show does neither, resulting in a depiction of advantaged young adult living that’s candid about the grot and the glamour.
Empathetic Approach
“Many programs portray youth and online life with disdain and mockery,” she comments. “I think that young people have been through a lot – I’m mostly thinking of people younger than me, like my little sister, who went to college during Covid, so she had to come home, or my other sister who was doing school online.”|“The younger generation has faced significant